Pennsylvania State Treasurer
Logo of the Pennsylvania State Treasury
Flag of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
= Incumbent treasurer Joe Torsella facing toward the right with a smile and dark-framed glasses, while wearing a dark blue suit coat, light shirt, and light blue tie with alternating white and dark blue diagonal stripes
Incumbent
Stacy Garrity
since January 19, 2021
Residence129 Finance Building, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Term lengthFour years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holderDavid Rittenhouse
Formation1777
Websitewww.patreasury.gov

The Pennsylvania State Treasurer is the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, an independent department of state government. The state treasurer is elected every four years. Treasurers are limited to two consecutive terms.

The Pennsylvania Treasury Department

As the name "Treasury" suggests, the department's paramount responsibility is safeguarding and managing the state's financial assets, but Pennsylvania's constitution and statutes place additional specific responsibilities on the office.

Taxes and other sources of revenue collected by the state are deposited with the Treasury. The department uses that money to make payments on behalf of state government, including payroll for state employees and charges incurred by government agencies. Before issuing payments, Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Review must carefully examine invoices to make certain the charges are lawful and correct.

While managing cash flow to ensure that enough money is on hand to meet financial obligations, Treasury also places funds in widely diversified short-term and long-term investments to earn income for state taxpayers. It also holds and/or invests funds for other government agencies, such as the state pension boards. As of 2014, Treasury is custodian of approximately $100 billion in public assets.

PA 529 College Savings Program

The PA 529 College Savings Program gives families a tax-advantaged way to make college possible for their children.

Unclaimed property

Treasury's Unclaimed Property Bureau works to reunite more than $2 billion in lost, forgotten and abandoned property with its rightful owners. Since 2009, Treasury has collected $1.134 billion in abandoned property and returned $518 million back to the rightful owners, netting $616 million for the state General Fund budget.

INVEST

The INVEST program helps local governments and nonprofits invest their money with flexibility, security, and confidence. INVEST uses Treasury's professional investment expertise, minus the high costs of other investment programs. With less money spent on management fees, more money is spent on Pennsylvania's communities.

Responsibilities

  1. Conducting investigations of loss, theft, or fraud involving commonwealth checks.
  2. Reviewing and approving real estate leases and sole source contracts entered into by commonwealth agencies before such leases and contracts can become effective.
  3. Housing the Pennsylvania Contracts e-Library. In response to the new Right-to-Know Law signed by Governor Ed Rendell on February 14, 2008, Treasury is required to make available certain government contract information for public inspection by posting it on a publicly accessible Web site.

State boards

The department's reach also extends to the many state boards on which the treasurer serves. For example, as the chairperson of the Board of Finance and Revenue, the treasurer directs the selection of the banks where state funds are deposited and sets the interest rates paid on them. The treasurer also serves on boards that oversee state pension funds and has a voice in how these funds are managed and invested. Other board-related activities allow the treasurer to help provide Pennsylvania schools with tax-exempt financing for modernization, make grants to distressed communities, and finance the purchase of rental housing for residents in need.

Other services

The Treasury provides several other services to state residents, such as financial education programs for individuals and businesses, and a debit card for recipients of unemployment compensation and workers compensation benefits. It makes low-interest loans available for energy efficiency improvements in residential homes through Keystone HELP, and invests in energy upgrades in college and university buildings through its Campus Energy Efficiency Fund.

List of Pennsylvania Treasurers

PortraitNameTermParty
Samuel Carpenter 1704–1710, 1711–1713
David Rittenhouse 1777–1789
Christian Febiger 1789–1797
Peter Baynton 1797–1801
Jacob Carpenter 1801–1802
Isaac Weaver Jr. 1802–1807 Democratic-Republican
William Findlay 1807–1817 Democratic-Republican
R. M. Crain 1817–1820
John B. Trevor 1820–1821
William Clark 1821–1827
Alexander Mahon 1827–1835
Joseph Lawrence 1835–1836
Daniel Sturgeon 1836–1840 Democratic
Almon Heath Read 1840–1841 Democratic
John Gilmore 1841–1842
Job Mann 1842–1845
James Ross Snowden 1845–1847 Democratic
John Banks 1847–1848 Whig
Arnold Plumer 1848–1849 Democratic
Gideon J. Ball 1849–1850
John M. Bickel 1850–1854 Democratic
Joseph Bailey 1854–1855 Democratic
Eli Slifer 1855–1856 Whig
Henry S. Magraw 1856–1859
Eli Slifer 1859–1861 Republican
Henry Dunning Moore 1861–1863 Republican
William V. McGrath 1863–1864 Republican
Henry Dunning Moore 1864–1865 Republican
William H. Kemble 1865–1868 Republican
W. W. Irwin 1868–1869
Robert W. Mackey 1869–1870 Republican
W. W. Irwin 1870–1871
Robert W. Mackey 1871–1876 Republican
Henry Rawle 1876–1878 Republican
Amos C. Noyes 1878–1880 Democratic
Samuel Butler 1880–1882 Republican
Silas M. Bailey 1882–1884 Republican
William Livsey 1884–1886 Republican
Matthew Quay 1886–1887 Republican
William Livsey 1887–1888 Republican
William B. Hart 1888–1889 Republican
William Livsey 1889–1890 Republican
Henry K. Boyer 1890–1892 Republican
John W. Morrison 1892–1894 Republican
Samuel M. Jackson 1894–1896 Republican
Benjamin J. Haywood 1896–1898 Republican
James S. Beacom 1898–1900 Republican
James E. Barnett 1900–1902 Republican
Frank G. Harris 1902–1904 Republican
William L. Mathues 1904–1906 Republican
Robert K. Young 1913–1917 Republican
Harmon M. Kephart 1917–1921 Republican
Charles A. Snyder 1921–1925 Republican
Samuel S. Lewis 1925–1929 Republican
Edward Martin 1929–1933 Republican
Charles A. Waters 1933–1937 Republican
F. Clair Ross 1937–1941 Democratic
G. Harold Wagner 1941–1945 Democratic
Ramsey S. Black 1945–1949 Democratic
Charles R. Barber 1949–1953 Republican
Weldon Brinton Heyburn 1953–1957 Republican
Robert F. Kent 1957–1961 Republican
Grace M. Sloan 1961–1965 Democratic
Thomas Z. Minehart 1965–1969 Democratic
Grace M. Sloan 1969–1977 Democratic
Robert E. Casey[1] 1977–1981 Democratic
R. Budd Dwyer 1981–1987 Republican
G. Davis Greene Jr. 1987–1989 Democratic
Catherine Baker Knoll 1989–1997 Democratic
Barbara Hafer 1997–2005 Republican
Bob Casey Jr. 2005–2007 Democratic
Robin Wiessmann 2007–2009 Democratic
Rob McCord 2009–2015 Democratic
Tim Reese 2015–2017 Independent
Joe Torsella 2017–2021 Democratic
Stacy Garrity 2021– Republican

References

  1. ↑ Madonna, G. Terry; Young, Michael (2001-05-22). "In Pennsylvania politics, candidates with brand names win elections". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2020-01-17. obscure Cambria County official
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